Hong Kong's top court on Monday unanimously dismissed the bid to overturn the convictions of media tycoon Jimmy Lai and six other pro-democracy campaigners for an unauthorized assembly in 2019. - REUTERS
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00:00Hong Kong's top court on Monday unanimously dismissed the bid to overturn the convictions
00:06of media tycoon Jimmy Lai and six other pro-democracy campaigners for an unauthorized assembly in
00:122019.
00:13Seventy-six-year-old Lai, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily and others,
00:19including Martin Li, had been found guilty of organizing and participating in an unauthorized
00:25assembly in August 2019.
00:28Following months-long pro-democracy protests in the China-ruled city, a lower court had
00:33overturned their conviction for organizing the unauthorized assembly, but their conviction
00:38for taking part in an unauthorized procession was upheld.
00:42The appeal focused on whether the conviction was proportionate to fundamental human rights
00:47protections, a principle that came from two non-binding decisions of Britain's Supreme
00:52Court.
00:53However, Chief Justice Andrew Cheung said that the legal frameworks in Hong Kong and
00:58the UK differ significantly and should not be treated the same.
01:03Beijing imposed national security law in 2020 after months of pro-democracy protests in
01:082019, and the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed a new national security law, also known
01:15as Article 23, in March this year.
01:18Lai has been held in solitary confinement for more than three years since December 2020.
01:24He is now facing a separate national security trial and serving a sentence of five years
01:28and nine months, after being convicted of violating a lease contract for his now-shuttered
01:34newspaper's headquarters.
01:36According to the Security Bureau, over 300 people were arrested over acts or activities
01:41that endanger national security. Among them, 176 persons and five companies were charged.